Hi folks I’m just starting another board (7’2), and I’m going to have ago at a resin tint on the bottom of the board. From what I’ve gathered from the archives Yellow/Orange will be the order of the day. I’m planning on doing a cut lap and using resin pin lines on the top side (which I know are way difficult, but If I screw up, I screw up). My only main stumbling point is which cloth do I use? I’ve got some 8oz Volan from a previous project but, I’m thinking will it turn the yellow, green in appearence or make it dull??? Or should I use a regular cloth of a similar weight? I’ve only seen 6oz in the catalogue, will this give me the same effect?? Also, I’ve never used a tint, how does it come? Is it a paste or a liquid based product?? Thanx as always Peaman
Peaman, After my first board success I thought I could do anything. I tried a sea- green tint on the bottom of my second board and it came out butt-ugly. I ended up adding white to the green for an opaque on the hot coat. So this is what I think I should have done: Go with the yellow tint if it’s your first one and learn from that. Keep your squeegee at a constant angle and pressure throughout the entire final strokes (especially off the end of the board.) Any variation in depth of resin means uneven color. Also, mix enough un-cat tinted resin for both lam & hot coats. You can get pigment from fiberglasssupply.com for a few bucks. Good Luck. Gary
Howzit Peaman, I cut my teeth on tints and they can be a nightmare. I suggest a person should be comfortable with their glassing skills before attempting a tint. When first learning to lam people tend to rush things because their mind is on the resin kicking before they’re finished. Sooner or later you stop thinking about that so much and you can focus on doing a cleaner lamination. One thing I notice on Swaylocks is a tendency for rookie shapers and glassers trying to do more advanced work when they would be better off working on basics. Aloha, Kokua
peaman are you thinking along the lines of one on my boards the cleanlines inspired one? resource 476 7-7’11 archive. if so these are quite cool and easy to do!
Kokua is right. Tints will show every mistake and defect you make on both the blank and in your glassing. I say go for it but be prepared for the defects. The Volan will also show more flaws, but I guess when your done you will need to know where you need improving on. I would suggest buying your yellow tint from Fiberglass Hawaii. They sell quality tints and sell it in small quantities. Jono
I agree with Kokua as always but if you just have to do a cut lap you will be real safe with yellow and volan will be O.K.Orange is a bit more tricky.Get the tint from Fiberglass Hawaii as stated.Just have fun…its nothin but a surfboard. R.B.
i have some advice…use a rail line tool and tape off the deck if you are just doing a bottom/rail tint and cut it just as it gells. if you are doing a top and bottom tint make sure you tape it off on the bottom…i learned my lesson. good luck
hi, I have problems with bleeding under the tape. what can i doo about it?
It might be a bit of a dumb question, but if I don’t ask I won’t learn, but do you use the tint in the lamination and in the hot coat? Or is it just in one or the other? Or, could a tint be applied as a finish in the gloss coat?? Thanks again, I’m really enjoying learning about this. Cheers Peaman
geert, i use massive amounts of tape first of all. i use 2 inch wide tape and overlap each new peice of tape 1 inch over the old peice of tape. also right as you are getting ready to glass take the top of your finger nail and run it along the tapelines. ive never had it run under. peaman, you can tint the lam resin(which is what i do) when you glass or you can tint the hotcoat, but you have the added risk of sanding through. ive never heard of tinting a glosscoat but thats one that cleanlines or kokua should tackle…hope this helped.
Howzit Austin, Funny you should mention tint in a gloss. I’m in the process of refinishing a 70’s Larry Strada balsa gun which I’m going to add some yellow tint to the gloss job.Aloha, Kokua
Howzit Geert. Either you are using an inferior tape or the tape isn’t sticking good enough. 3m’s new 233 plus tape (green) works really good, but you need to get all the foam dust off the blank for it to stick properly. I use a indoor vac. brush attachment with my shop vac. to clean a blank before I tape off. Don’t use a shop vac brush since the bristles are stiff and will scar the blank, get one that goes with a house vac. they have soft bristles. You won’t believe how good the tape sticks. Aloha, Kokua
Hey Kokua. Speaking of good tape, I just finished an opaque cut lap. I had a slight problem with the tape pulling away a little at the curves of the nose and tail (this was on the second and third lam’s; the tape was on the previous lam). It was no big deal because I could easily see where to cut, but it took a little longer because I could’nt do my normal lift and trim all the way around. I used 1/2" high quality 3M (firmly depressed with a razor blade), overlapped by 3". I think the heat of the lam going off caused the tape to slide a little at the curves. Hope I made this clear, and any advice you can give or thoughts are much appreciated. Thanks bro- ryan
I use 3M 233 tape exclusivly.As for taping I lay down 3/4" inch first…it will bend better and then press down reaaly good with your finger (blow off the dust or vaccum the blank)Lastly I use 2" for the final tape job.One thing about trimming laps…I cut them early as possible.Sometimes the board is a little tacky so I use wax paper over the rails when I grab the board to flip it over.I also(this is important)put wax paper over the stand that the board rests on while trimming.If you dont do this the glass may stick to the stand and pull up when you go to move it.As for hot coat tints…I dont do it unless I am purposly taping off a seperate panel…same thing for an opaque panel.I am going to try to post some pics of a board with opaque resin panels.If you can find the the “Marble” 9’6" I did in the archives you will see an example of art done on the hotcoat. R. Brucker
Yo Kokua that will work…just be real carefull when you polish it.You can also scuff it up and gloss clear over the tint to be safe but not neccesary if you are a polishing Guru. R. Brucker
Thanks Cleanlines. The 233 is green, right? I’m not sure what the # is that I use but it’s tan 3M bought from Fiberglass Hawaii and cost is expensive. Maybe the 233 is even better? Do you ever have a problem with tape sliding at the nose and tail? Also, do you have any problems with 3/4" making the bends at the nose and tail? I want as little creasing as possible but it sounds like the 233 does it. Also, thanks for the wax paper tip! Any tricks for cleaning up sticky tape marks from not using wax paper? Thanks again- ryan
For the tape release problem, when pros say “Blow off the foam” they mean blow it off with your air compressor. That makes the foam super-clean. If you don’t have an air compressor, then… maybe clean the foam with some spare tape. Pressing the tape down is necessary, but also necessary, make sure to press it down last thing before laminating or painting over it… very important. All tape releases over time.
Just so I get everything straight, I wanted to check the order of glassing. I’m using regular 6oz bottom and then a 6oz and a 8oz Volan for the top. So: 1.Bottom first. I lay my tape on the deck ready for the cut lap. Mix up my lam resin with the yellow tint. When happy with everything, catalyse it it and glass the bottom. 2.When bottom starts to go off use the wax paper trick and a razor to cut the laps. Once finished, at this point do I need to run a small amount of resin around the fresh edge?? 3.Repeat the process for the deck. 5.Hot coat the board. 6.At this point can I put some pin lines on? 7.Gloss coat and polish up. Not that I’m going to, but say for instance I was going to do a yellow bottom and a different coloured deck, would you put the colour directly onto the foam in the resin?Or would you glass into the void area where there’s just foam, and cut it in flush upto the bottom lap line, and then once dried go over with a clear layer of say 6oz to give the strength back? I was thinking is it like a panel of coloured glass, blended in, with a pinline. Thanks for your patience, and help as always. Your favourite online glassing aprentice! Peaman
peaman, i tend to set the bottom of the board of a little hotter by splitting the resin and catalising a bit more then using a weaker ammount for the rails so when you flip the board the bottom is pretty much gone off! then you dont get any bubbles/pulls by where you flipped it on to the stands hope this makes sense. paul
For the question of what to do about the tinted glass edge: Some pros won’t like talking about it, but putting together a few pro posts… After cutting the glass edge use a surform to take down the high folded edges. Then press the entire glass edge into the foam.